Summary of the Intercomparison of the Force Standard Machines of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA, and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Germany

A comparison of force measurements performed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA, and at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Germany is reported. The focus of the study was the intercomparison of the forces realized by the two Institutes rather than the measurement process. The transfer standards used in the comparison consisted of force transducers and associated readout instrumentation. The results of the intercomparison reveal that over a range of 50 kN to 4.5 MN, the forces realized at NIST and at PTB compare favorably. For forces up to 900 kN the agreement is within ±40 ppm; above 900 kN the agreement is within ± 100 ppm.